Licenses and MembershipsOur
Lady of Grace Nursery School and Kindergarten fully complies with
the educational regulations of the Diocese of Bridgeport. Of equal
importance, Our Lady of Grace meets all of the legal and operational
requirements of a Child Day-Care Center operating in the State of
Connecticut and is fully licensed by the State of Connecticut. Our
Lady of Grace maintains its membership in the Southern Fairfield
County Association for the Education of Young Children (SFAEYC),
the Child Care Association of Stamford and the United Way of Stamford.

PreK-3/PreK-4Daily schedule for the 3 &
4 year old classrooms

AM
Schedule

7:30 – 8:30

Arrival
of children, greetings, supervised free play such as table
toys, board games, puzzles, educational
videos in the playroom area.

8:30 – 9:00

Music and
appropriate song and hymns.

9:00 – 9:15

Group Prayers.

9:15 – 9:30

Snacks.

9:30 – 10:15

Structured
work period (following directions, matching, number and color
recognition, alphabet,
etc.)

10:15 – 10:30

Clean-up,
lavatory

10:30 – 11:00

Outdoor
playground activities

11:00 – 11:15

Clean-up,
lavatory

11:15 – 11:30

Listening
to quiet music and/or stories/videos

11:30 – 12:15

Lunch

PM
Schedule

12:15 – 1:00

Outdoor
playground activities

1:00 – 1:15

Clean-up,
lavatory

1:15 – 3:00

Nap time/
rest on cots

3:00 – 3:15

Clean-up,
lavatory, listening to quiet music

3:15 – 3:30

Snack

3:30 – 5:00

Outdoor
playground activites

5:00 – 5:30

Departure
time

In
the event of inclement weather, all educational and recreational
activities will be held in individual classrooms.

Additional
ActivitiesChildren have the opportunity to use our school computer lab every
day. We use the latest interactive software to help the children
learn and have fun.

The Ferguson
Library Book Mobile visits the school twice a month.
The library staff reads and sings with the children. It is just beautiful
to see them sing along with the guitar.

The Tumble
Bus comes every Friday. This is an optional activity
(and an additional fee of $88), this is well attended and the children
love it.

KindergartenHealth & Family
The kindergarten health program focuses on awareness of the senses,
emotions, and nutrition. Schools and homes work together on matters
of health and safety. Students learn that the senses help gather
information which can be used in making decisions.

The program focuses on the following areas:

Well-balanced meals

Sanitary behavior such as hand washing

Adequate exercise and rest

Medical and dental care

Healthy environment

Creative Development
The goal creative development is to develop and nurture the child’s natural
urge to create and to integrate his or her artistic development
with other aspects of life. The teacher provides a variety of media
within the classroom. Children are given the opportunity to explore, learn
new techniques, and development skills.

Development of Good Work Habits
In order to work well the child must observe rules and regulations as presented by the teacher.

We are especially concerned about the following,
That the child:

Learns to listen to and follow directions

Develops an adequate attention span

Learns to work carefully and neatly

Learns to work well independently

Learns to seek help when needed

Learns to complete tasks.

Development of Reading Readiness Skills
This area is most important in the child’s intellectual development.
Reading readiness includes the following aspects:

Letter Recognition: The child is introduced to the
naming of upper and lower case letters as well as the matching of
upper and lower case letters.

Auditory
Perception: The child is introduced to rhyming words,
working with the same initial consonants, association
of consonant sounds with letters representing those
sounds, and discrimination of pairs of like and
different words. Phonic skills are emphasized.

Visual
Perception: The child is introduced to the process of
discriminating colors, shapes, pictures, letters, and words.

Directionality: The
child is introduced to left and right in relation to his or
her own body and is directed to work from left to right in progression.

Word
Meaning: The child is introduced to the naming of familiar
objects and to the placing of pictures into classifications,
while he of she increases his or her vocabulary
through listening and using spoken context as clues for missing words.

Comprehension: The
child is taught to follow oral directions, to listen to a story
well, so that he or she can get the main idea of the story, recall its details, and retell the story in sequence.

Verbal
Expression: The child is instructed to interpret pictures,
to speak in complete sentences and to dictate simple stories.

In each of the above aspects the teacher stresses drill work
and repetition of reading exercises. The teacher
will give the child individual help in those aspects when
he or she shows some weakness.

Language Development
The child must learn the art of listening to the teacher and to other children
who are speaking. He or she is then encouraged to express ideas
and to speak clearly. The child is also encouraged to express ideas
by means of gestures and pantomimes.

The teacher always
strives to promote discussion of ideas among the children,
according to the rules for discussion. Also the teacher prompts
the child to remember short stories and to tell them in sequence.
As needed, the teacher will tactfully and informally correct grammar
mistakes of the child who is speaking.

Furthermore,
the child is taught to create scribble stories, basing them
on stories and pictures presented or on their own experiences.
In due time the child is introduced to printing capital and small
letters and to printing his her own name.

Kindergarten Mathematics
The mathematics curriculum consists of a sequence of skills taught at
all grade levels. In teaching theses skills, a spiral learning approach
is used. This means that the students master a skill at a basic
level as they progress through the grades. As they do so, they have
experiences with a variety of materials and approaches.

The kindergarten
math curriculum develops an understanding and insight
into the patterns of mathematics through the use of concrete materials.
The program is designed to enable young children to understand
and deal flexibly with mathematical ideals and concepts.

Children
are introduced to activities dealing with position, size, and
shape, counting, addition and subtraction, inequalities, measurements, money, temperature, time and space.

Kindergarten Science
In kindergarten, the focus of the science curriculum is on Physical Science with only an introduction to the Life Sciences.

As an introduction to these units in science, the children learn through
discovery and exploration to use the word object to refer to
a piece of matter. The properties of objects are emphasized rather
than their functions: reference is made to the color, shape, texture,
and other characteristics of the object.

The children
will also learn that plants and animals are living things,
or organisms that need air, light, water and nutrients to survive,
and that there is a distinct sequence or life cycle that all organisms experience.

Musical Development
Music as an integral part of the kindergarten curriculum is a medium
of self-expression, through which a child can also gain understanding
and skill in discipline.

The program begins
at the five-year old level with the simplest amount
of material needed to embody a musical concept. The program
consists of songs, singing rhymes and games, rhythm through
hand clapping and instrumental play, ear training and introduction to listening skills.

Daily Schedule for the Kindergarten Class

AM
Schedule

7:30
- 8:00

Arrival
of students, greetings, supervised free play, educationalvideo in the playroom area

8:00 – 8:45

Music and
appropriate song and hymns

8:45 – 9:00

Prayers
in unison

9:00 - 9:15

Clean-up,
lavatory

9:30 – 9:45

“Show and Tell” activity calendar, weather, etc.

9:45 – 10:30

Structured
work period (according to the Kindergarten curriculum,e.g., art, following directions, alphabet recognition)

10:30 – 10:45

Recess:
gym or walk

10:30 – 11:30

Numbers
recognition, matching and sorting numbers

11:30 – 11:45

Circle Time:
Stories, songs, etc.

11:45 – 12:00

Lavatory,
wash hands, get ready for lunch

PM
Schedule

12:00 – 12:30

Lunch and
listening to quiet music and stories

12:30 – 1:00

Outdoor playground activity

1:00 – 1:15

Lavatory

1:15 – 1:45

Quiet time;
independent activity, free time, library time

1:45 – 2:30

Structured
work period; review homework turned in; assignment of homework
for the next day